This invention concerns modular plastic conveyor belts, particularly such belts of the type designed for radius and spiral as well as straight belt travel. The invention achieves an extremely tight turn radius.
Modular plastic conveyor belts of the general type with which this invention is concerned are described in KVP U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,901,844, 5,069,330, 5,181,601, 6,484,379 and 6,796,418. Such belts designed for radius and straight travel are in part exemplified by KVP's early and pioneering radius belt called the ALL-IN-ONE, described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,907. Later, KVP developed a belt with an integral side plate, that is, not requiring a separate (usually metal) side plate at the outer edge of the belt for accepting the high tension at the outside of a curve (U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,601).
Radius conveyor belts designed for tight turning radii are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,401,914, 5,906,270, and 4,934,517. There have been others as well, but none has achieved the tight turning radius of the current invention described below.